Olive oysterling or Oyster mushroom

Cap 5-15 cm, fan-shaped, semicircular or tongue-shaped. Color olive-greenish, olive-brown, lighter and yellowish toward the edge. Surface moist, smooth, slippery in wet weather. The skin is tough — it's best to peel it before cooking.

Cap 5–25 cm across, rounded or ear-shaped in young mushrooms, then fan-shaped or oyster-shaped (hence the English name oyster mushroom). Surface smooth, moist, from dark gray or gray-blue in young ones to pale gray or almost white in mature ones. Margin wavy, thin.

Gilled hymenophore. Gills close, thin, decurrent on the stem (where there is one). Color whitish to cream, yellowish with age. Spore print pale yellow.

Gills crowded, whitish or cream, running from the cap down the stem. In young mushrooms the gills are tightly packed; in old ones they spread apart. Spore print white or pale lilac.

Stem short, 1-3 cm, lateral, thickened at the base, sometimes almost absent. Color yellowish to yellow-brown, finely downy in the lower part. No ring.

Stem 1–5 cm tall (or almost absent in side-attached mushrooms), 1–2.5 cm thick, firm, off-center or lateral, white or slightly gray. No ring and no volva.

The flesh is white to yellowish, soft and juicy in young specimens, stringy in old ones. The color doesn't change when cut. Pleasant mushroomy taste when young, slightly bitter when old.

Flesh white, firm in young mushrooms, more fibrous and tough in mature ones — especially in the stem. Taste mild, slightly anise-like. Soaks up flavors well during cooking.

Pleasant mushroomy smell. Mild taste when young, slightly bitter when old.

Smell pleasant, anise-mushroomy, subtle. Fresh oyster mushrooms smell soft and unobtrusive. When fried, the aroma becomes stronger and closer to the classic mushroom smell.